God Bless America
by XO Drae'co
Summary: In which Beca Mitchel tries to lead her pregnant girlfriend and a misfit group of surviors to Salvation. Apocalypse!Bechloe, Staubrey, (Warning:G!p) Horror, romance, action, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**_Prologue_**

* * *

"You need to relax." Her soft voice cooed into her ear, gentle hands clasped around her wrist to stop her pacing. She was pulled slowly into a deep embrace, her body settling into her lap, and her head resting against her chest. Her heartbeat thrummed softly in her ear and she felt herself being calmed by its rhythmic beating.

She felt soft lips press themselves against the top of her curly red hair, muscled arms tightening around her waist, but mindful of her belly. She tried to relax, but she just couldn't. They were running out of food, and those monsters were becoming more and more restless. Their groans of hunger and bloodcurdling shrieks rang in her ears, freezing the blood in her veins, haunting her dreams. She buried her face into the woman's chest, inhaling her sweet scent.

"How can I, Beca? We're going to run out of food sooner or later, and Stacie's still too weak to travel."

She sighed heavily. Stacie, one of their group members and her childhood friend, had been critically injured in a brawl with another hostile survivor group about a week ago. Originally, she wasn't expected to survive the night, but she was a fighter and was still desperately clinging on to the living world.

With a broken leg, a few fractured ribs, multiple cuts and bruises, and a concussion, the odds were clearly stacked against her. Especially when one needed to be in top condition to stand a chance in this new world. Her girlfriend, Aubrey, refused to leave her side. Showering and bathroom breaks were the only exceptions. The lanky brunette needed constant vigilance in case anything happened or God forbid she fall into a coma.

Beca and Stacie were out on a supply run when the hostile group attacked, fighting over what was left of the small convenient store. They usually went on runs together because they were the two fastest runners throughout the entire group. They'd been completely outnumbered, but they needed food for a heavily pregnant Chloe and a few other group members who were close to starving to death.

Stacie had engaged the leader, a bulky woman who'd been at least five inches taller and fifty pounds heavier, wielding a wooden baseball bat. Needless to say, Stacie had been beaten to within an inch of her life, the result of trying to retrieve the bag the woman had snatched out of her hands. Beca had saved her life at the last possible moment, emptying a clip of M9 rounds into the woman's body as she went in for the killing blow.

Her group mates tried to retaliate, but the gunshots had attracted a horde of those horrible creatures and they fled instantly, leaving a significantly smaller Beca to haul an unconscious Stacie to safety before a few of their group members found them about an hour later. The two boys carefully carried the injured brunette back to the safe-house, Beca picking off infected who strayed too close.

Luckily, they had managed to scavenge a few things before the group arrived and Beca gave most of her share to her pregnant girlfriend. Chloe was about eight and a half months along, and Beca, as well as the rest of the group, wanted Chloe to be at full strength when she delivered their child.

It's been roughly four months since the world ended due to a dispute between the USA, Russia, China, and Japan. Long story short, one of the four unleashed a virus, capable of destroying the host's body from the inside out, turning them into radioactive, flesh-eating freaks.

Once you're infected, whether it be a bite, scratch, or their blood coming in contact with an open wound, you had about twelve hours before you became one of them. Those monsters were relentless. No matter how many clips you unloaded into their bodies, they'd get back up, never stopping, not bothered in the slightest. The only way to put them down permanently was a shot to the head, or bashing its brain in.

Chloe shifts against Beca's chest, smiling when she feels a tiny kick in her abdomen. "They're kicking…" She whispered into Beca's neck. They didn't know the gender, both of them wanting it to be a surprise when the child was born. The group had already made assumptions and collected gender friendly clothes. Of course the boys wanted a little boy and the girls wanted a little girl. Chloe honestly didn't care. She couldn't wait to meet their baby. She hoped the child had Beca's eyes… those stormy greyish-blue hues she loved so much.

"We'll go on another run soon. We need to find some medicine for Stacie too. If her wounds get infected…" Beca trailed off. Chloe grasped her hand, bringing it to her lips and kissing her bruised knuckles.

"Megan will take care of her. She's a great doctor." Chloe said, referring to the pretty black doctor who'd been found by Aubrey and offered a place in their group. She was indeed a great doctor, but without a proper hospital or medicine there was only so much she can do.

"Let's go visit? I'm sure Aubrey can use some company." Beca said softly. Chloe kissed her on the cheek and nodded.

* * *

The lanky brunette was lying on her back, her head resting in Aubrey's lap while the blonde dabbed at her sweaty forehead with a damp rag. Stacie had thick bandages wrapped around her upper body, bruises littering her arms, and the side of her head had been shaved in order to stitch the deep gash on her temple. Her breaths came out in ragged pants, wheezing painfully with every inhale and exhale. Her broken leg was taped to a 2 by 4 in a makeshift splint, and her hands covered in Band-Aids. The rest of the group made themselves scarce, either patrolling, resting, or keeping watch.

Aubrey smiled upon seeing her pregnant best friend and the little brunette. "Hey."

"Hey, how is she?" Chloe slowly lowers herself onto her knees and gently runs her fingers down Stacie's cheek, frowning when she felt her heated skin.

"She's got a fever. I think it's just a cold. None of her wounds show any signs of infection."

"Has Megan looked at her?"

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah, she thinks it's just a cold too. But if it's not treated, it could escalate to _pneumonia_…"

Stacie whimpered in her sleep. Her beautiful face was scrunched up in pain, her fists clenching the dark fabric of Aubrey's sweats. Aubrey leaned down and kissed her head, feeling her tears well up at being so completely helpless.

Chloe rubbed her back while Beca shrugged off her jacket and slipped it over Stacie's shivering body. She whined again, biting her lip harshly before falling unconscious once more.

Chloe grabbed the blonde's hand in one and Beca's in the other, resting them over Stacie's abdomen.

"She'll get through this. We'll all get through this. We just can't give up hope."

* * *

_**If you are interested, leave me a review. This is only the prologue; I promise there's so much more to come. Mind you, Beca does have a G!P, but in this story, there's not going to be any random, insignificant smut, unrealistic crude scenes, or anything that will make you shake your head in disgust or scoff in contempt. **_

_**I promise to do my research, (Wow, that sounds weird...) and to do everything humanly possible to make this story as realistic and addicting as I can. Everything will be explained in upcoming chapters, but if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts or feelings, feel free to contact me. **_

_**Thank you for your time, I look forward to writing more. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thanks for your reviews, they're actually very fulfilling. Now I see why Fanfiction writers crave them so much.**_

_**Chapter1.**_

_Sunrise_

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, igniting the black sky with tendrils of gold and red. Cold winds swept through the dawn, tossing leaves and debris into the air. The infected roamed the streets, their hungry moans piercing the otherwise quiet environment. Their groans became more frequent when the sun's ultraviolet rays basked over their sickly pale skin, shifting and growling in discomfort.

On the roof of a large, two story house, three young men watched them intently, each gripping their respective weapons in anticipation. The one in the front grinned goofily at his companions, his dark hair falling into his equally dark eyes, pushing a pair of binoculars up to his eyes.

"Here we go!" He said to his friends. They nodded in agreement, practically leaning over the edge of the roof to watch a scene unfold.

They watched as the sun rose higher in the sky, the dark earth lighting up dramatically. The infected roaming the streets gave bloodcurdling screeches, their skin bubbling and peeling off in grotesque fashions. Their eyes began to leak whitish pink fluids, exploding within their sockets and dripping down their skinless cheeks. The one's caught in the light fell to their knees, screaming in absolute agony. This wasn't even the best part. "Three, two, one, and…"

At the end of the dark haired boy's countdown, a loud plopping sound echoed throughout the street, the infected caught in the sunlight heads exploded, spewing whitish-green blood and brain matter everywhere. The boys howled with laughter, delighted, but careful not to draw any attention to themselves. "Man, I fucking_ love_ the sunrise!" One of them said, wiping a tear from his eye.

The infected were vulnerable and extremely allergic to sunlight. It was not certain why, but it definitely had something to do with their lack of skin and excessive amounts of radiation in their bloodstream. Exposure to sunlight was the only other way of killing them permanently, but it had to be direct contact with its UV rays for at least a full minute. They were dormant during the day, their instincts they somehow retained telling them to avoid daylight at all costs.

They slunk away in the shadows, hiding in dark alleys and houses until the sun went down again. They somehow became more powerful at night, more aware, higher senses of smell, and physical capabilities. But most still wandered the streets in search of food, like the ones the boys were currently laughing at, and didn't deem it necessary to find a dark place to 'sleep.'

"That shit gets funnier and funnier every time." The biggest boy said. He went by Bumper. He was tall and bulky, with pale skin and spikey brown hair and the tendency to make crude comments and gestures at the most inappropriate times. His companions were Jesse and Benji. Benji wasn't as tall as Bumper, but he was lanky and fairly muscled. He had darkish brown hair and darker brown eyes. He was fairly civil, albeit a bit cocky, but a good friend. Jesse was the smallest, with silky brown hair and brown eyes. He was in all honesty a goofball, but his intentions were good.

There were a total of four boys in the group, about eight girls, well_ nine_ if you counted their K9 companion, Riley. Luke was the other guy. He was tall, well built, and had really short dark blonde hair. He wasn't on the roof because he preferred the day patrol. They were the night patrol. A few of the others would take their places in a few minutes so they could rest.

They laughed and joked a few minutes more before the day patrol slunk out of the window to relieve them. "Alright dickheads, go get some beauty sleep. God knows you need it." The girl said. She was a plump black woman, with a red styled fauxhawk wearing ripped jeans and a grey hoodie. She was Cynthia Rose, a Barden Bella.

She was followed by three other girls who belonged to the same acapella group. They entire group expect for Dr. Megan, had all attended Barden University and were rival music groups. The Treblemakers had gotten separated once the shit hit the fan. Jesse, Benji, and Bumper stuck with the Bellas, who luckily had all been together in a Dictatorship type Rehearsal led by none other than Aubrey. They didn't know if the rest of the boys were alive or dead, but they knew there was strength in numbers.

Lily, a timid, skinny, Asian girl with long hair and Chinese bangs came out behind Cynthia Rose. She was shy, barely coherent when she spoke, and said the most odd things, but she was extremely gifted in using nunchucks, as racist as it sounded. Luke came out after them. Usually Aubrey and Stacie made up the remaining members of the day patrol, but Stacie couldn't be left alone and Aubrey would have refused to leave her anyway. Dr. Megan was constantly moving about, much too busy with the injured brunette and Chloe as well as making natural medicines and conducting experiments to better aid them in the long coming. One of the other girls, Fat Amy, assisted Dr. Megan, being very adept at science and medicine.

"You just missed the show." Bumper said sleepily, stretching his arms over his head with a loud pop. Cynthia Rose groaned. "Damn, I like the part where they blow up."

"How are Stacie and Chloe?" Jesse asked.

Cynthia Rose's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Chloe's fine. She's just getting restless. The baby can come at any time. Stacie…she's still fighting."

They all shared a look of sorrow as the sun fully rose to grace in the sky. The sky was another dramatic change to the world after the Nuclear War. Instead of it being sky blue it had changed to a fiery, pearlescent reddish-gold. The normal molecules in the air that scattered blue light had been permanently scattered out and away from the line of sight, leaving a blood red sunrise and sunset.

It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

* * *

Chloe groaned as she stood came from relieving herself for the umpteenth time. Her pregnancy had brought many rather irritable tendencies with it. Such as bathroom breaks. She had to go constantly, and her bladder was extremely sensitive. Sneezing, giggling, or coughing could make her urinate instantly.

Beca was sitting on the edge of the bed, deep in thought as she fiddled with an AEK 971. She'd liberated the assault rifle from the Police Department soon after news of the infection began to spread. Many of their weapons came from either the police department, found along the way, or scavenged from the dead.

Beca was the unspoken leader of the group. Her quick thinking, fast reflexes, and a distinctive lack of fear aided her in difficult situations. Chloe waddled in front of the woman, kissing her gently on her forehead. Beca laid her head on her swollen belly, basking in its intense warmth. She felt a tiny kick on her cheek, grinning goofily. The baby was an early riser. "Goodmorning…" She whispered to both of them.

Chloe smiled. "Goodmorning. How are you feeling?"

"Shouldn't _I_ be asking _you_ that?"

"I'm fine." Chloe tried to hold in a giggle, not wanting to ruin her pants.

A soft bark came from underneath the bed as a large, wet nose poked from the side. Huge hazel eyes were wide with excitement as the dog struggled to free its big body from underneath the bed. After a few whines and an ultimate heave, the dog finally frees itself, its nails clicking against the hardwood floor.

Riley nearly jumped out of her fur in excitement at seeing her two mistresses. She stuck her big bed in between Chloe's legs, demanding attention. Chloe allowed herself a small giggle and Beca pushed the big dog's nose away. Riley had been an apology gift to Chloe from Beca before the Nuclear War. The German Shepard Rottweiler mix had quickly squirmed her way into both their hearts.

She looked like a German Shepard, but defiantly inherited the Rottweiler's color scheme. She was a big dog; standing on her hind legs she was equal in height with Stacie. Riley gave a small chirp, dashing down the stairs excitedly. Beca and Chloe laughed before tidying themselves and getting ready for today's plans.

* * *

"So far we've got two classes of Infected. _Common Infected_ are those idiots who have no sense of direction and spend the majority of their day running into walls and blowing up._ Special Infected_ are the smarter, faster, more _dangerous_ kind. So far we've discovered_ five_ types of Special Infected. " Beca said lowly to the group sometime later. They were all sitting in the quiet living room, minus Stacie and Aubrey of course.

Chloe, Cynthia Rose, Lily, and Fat Amy sat on one of the worn couches. They boys occupied the other, Riley sat at Chloe's feet, and Dr. Megan stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. "A Spitter is a Special Infected who has the ability to spew acid from its mouth. They have extremely elongated, veiny necks and huge, gaping maws. Do not approach them head on; shooting them from a distance is the safest way to kill them."

"They look like red-neck girls gone to a strip club." Bumper added. "Pigtails and everything."

Beca nodded with a small smirk and continued on. "A Bomber is a huge, swollen specimen with an unknown substance filled in its warts, covering most of its body. It is known to self-destruct when you are near, and its fluids attract other infected. _Avoid_ them at all costs."

The group nodded their heads in agreement.

"A Banshee is a tall, sickly white witch looking woman with long white hair and glowing white eyes. Once spotted, she'll scream and if your too close, your ears will bleed and you'll probably be deaf in an instant. Kill them first and _quickly_."

"A Wolverine is a bulky male with long, bone like claws extending from his fingertips. He walks on four legs like an animal, and has an immaculate sense of smell for blood. He is easily distracted and extremely stupid, but _don't_ underestimate him."

"Last but not least is a Titan."

The group collectively shuddered in discomfort, all had seen a Titan in action before and it was something none of them wanted to ever experience again. One of the Treblemakers, Unicycle had been the unlucky victim. "Titans…Titans come in both male and female. They are huge, growing and mutating to at least 11 or 12 feet tall. They somehow retained very humanlike features, facial hair, hair, and even_ smiling_… When they exhale steam streams from their mouths like trains. The only weakness is the back of their necks. Hit the back of the neck, and they fall and disintegrate."

Beca looked at her friends.

"The Special Infected aren't affected by Sunlight. Our weapons and brains are our _only_ hope against them."

Beca gripped her AEK 971 tightly in her small fingers.

"In order to stay alive we must be smart. We must be_ strong_. We must stick _together_. We are possibly the_ last_ humans in Atlanta. Maybe the world, but we can't be certain."

Luke snorted, his eyes downcast and his fists shaking. He looked at Beca with obvious tears in his eyes. "What's the point? There's nothing to_ live_ for! You said it yourself. We're probably the last human beings on this damn earth. We have _no_ family, no military,_ no_ fucking country, and we're damn on our way to losing Stacie anyway." He was full on crying now, Jesse gripped his hand tightly, but he pulled it away. "_What_ are we living for?!"

Beca remained calm. She often wondered the same thing… Why bother? There's _nothing_ left. Absolutely _nothing_ to look forward to…

But when she looked at Chloe…pregnant with her child, her son or daughter… When she looked at Stacie…fighting to stay in this dying world for Aubrey and her friends…When she looked at all these hurting souls who have lost _everything_, looking up at her with hope in their eyes…she knew why. She stared at him long and hard, breaking him down with her steely stare, but building him up with its passion.

"There's _always_ something to live for. I'd rather be with my friends in hell than alone in heaven. I promise. _I promise_. I _fucking_ promise we'll get through this._ I'll_ carry you all _home_."

She looked at everyone.

"The sun still rises…why_ shouldn't_ we?"

* * *

_**Don't forget to review, inspiration is key to success. :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_The Color of Hope_

Before Luke or anyone else can say anything regarding Beca's motivational speech, Chloe lets out a sudden cry of discomfort. All heads immediately snap to the red-head, who suddenly lurches forward, gripping the edge of the couch in a vice-like grip, her knuckles turning white as her skin. "Chloe," Beca's suddenly next to her girlfriend, pushing fiery red locks away from her face.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Chloe doesn't respond, but when Beca suddenly feels an unexpected wetness on her thigh, she understands. "I-I t-think m-my water just broke."

Chloe wails in pain, startling everyone out of their stupor. Megan quickly rushes to the young, cursing softly. It's too early. It's supposed to be a few more weeks from now. She looks to the startled group members with urgency in her mossy green eyes. "_Quickly_, we need to find something big enough to put her in and fill it with water!" She shouts, "Also, towels, blankets, and a damn miracle." She whispers the last part to herself.

Cynthia Rose and Lily are up instantly, clambering loudly up the stairs. Beca bites her lip, her chest filling with panic but she knows she has to stay calm. For herself and for Chloe.

"Wait, there's a kid's pool in the backyard! Will that work?" Luke asks Megan. She makes a sound in the back of her throat that indicates approval.

"That'll work."

Luke and the other boys head towards the backyard. Beca grips Chloe's hand as she lets out another shriek of pain, blue eyes welling up with tears and white teeth abusing a full bottom lip. It takes about three minutes for the boys to return with the slightly dirty kiddy pool. They bring it into the center of the living room, setting it in front of the worn fireplace and darting around for buckets to fill with water.

Luckily, the water system remained in tack, but it was deathly cold and sometimes unclean. They had to filter the water individually sometimes, but they didn't have time for that right now.

An agonizing shriek break away from Chloe's parted lips as the contractions became more painful. "Megan!"

The doctor looks up from the pool the boys are running back and forth filling with water and looks to the stop of the staircase where Aubrey is stands, looking alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"Chloe's water broke. Looks like you'll be an aunt sooner than you were expecting. Is Stacie okay?"

Aubrey gives a subtle nod. "But it's too early! It not supposed to be here for another few weeks!"

"I know, but it's coming and we have to prepare or it won't stand a chance." Megan says before looking to the soon-to-be mothers. "Does your family have any premature birth history?"

Chloe takes a few deep breaths to calm her erratic breathing before nodding her head. "I-I was born a month early. So w-was my mother."

"Okay, I see. If premature birth runs in your family, it might not be anything wrong with the baby. Now, did you experience premature labor?" The doctor asks as she nudges Chloe's legs apart to inspect her.

Premature labor or preterm labor is when a woman's body starts getting ready for birth too early in her pregnancy. Labor is premature if it starts more than three weeks before the expected due date. Under normal circumstances, doctors would've done a few things to delay an early delivery, but with no hospitals or other doctors around the option was unattainable.

Chloe's underweight, not severely, but enough to cause premature labor as well.

"We're done!" The boys announce.

"Good, now help me get her into the pool, but be very careful."

Jesse grips Chloe under her arms while Bumper gently pushes his hands under her thighs. They lift her with little difficulty, and set her into the freezing cold water. They shuffle awkwardly to the side as Cynthia Rose, Lily, and Jessica return with multiple towels. Riley paces around her mistress, her long nails clicking against the wooden floors, and her large ears plastered against the top of her head in anguish.

She knows to stay out of the pool, occasionally licking Chloe's exposed shoulder.

Beca kneels next to her girlfriend. Her hand's probably broken and she's scared out of her mind, but she appears calm. Her steely eyes are soft, her full lips upturned into a half smile. "You're doing great, babe." She absently rubs her belly, "Try to stay calm."

"_YOU_ DID _THIS_!" Chloe accuses, throwing her head back and wailing again. "I let _you_ stick _your_-"

Beca cuts her off with a chaste kiss, half expecting the red-head to bite her lip or punch her, but she returns it as best as she can in her current state.

* * *

_Six hours._

It's been _six_ hours since Chloe's water broke and her contractions began. Her throat's raw from screaming, hair plastered to her head, skin white as snow, and she's horribly exhausted. She wants to stop pushing, to just close her eyes and fall asleep forever.

But she knows she can't. The baby will die before it's even born if she does that. Megan thinks it's a boy, but Beca's hell-bent on it being a girl. Something about the way her stomach was rounded or something like that. She's never believed in those weird gender-guessing theories.

Beca's been crouched next to her so long, she's sure all the blood in her legs have ceased to flow, but she's unwilling to move. There's blood in the pool, swirling around its icy depths like the souls of dead sharks.

"I see a head!" Megan finally announces. "Chloe, on my count I need you to push as hard as you can!"

Chloe shakes her head. "I-I can't."

"Chloe, you have too." She stares hard into Chloe's terrified eyes. Green with bits of silver and brown bore into electric blue. Chloe nods finally, tears streaming down her _cheeks._

Beca's hand never leaves her. Her lips never ceased whispering words of comfort into her ear. Chloe can hear Beca's heart beat erratically against her chest, her teeth chattering, and her palms are possibly sweatier than her own.

_"One,"_

_"Two,"_

_"_Three,"

"_PUSH_!"

Chloe pushes with all her might. It's like trying to push a _watermelon_ out of her vagina. A watermelon with _spikes_ and soaked in _acid_.

"Again Chloe!"

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three,"

"_PUSH_!

Chloe's not the only one screaming. Jesse's over in the doorway of the kitchen shrieking like _he's_ giving birth. Bumper fainted, Benji's nowhere to be found, and the other girls are on the top of the staircase watching in both horror an amazement.

Several pushes, agonizing screams, and two more fainted males later, a cry is heard.

But it's not _Chloe_, nor is it_ Jesse_.

It's shrill, tiny, and high pitched.

It's_ beautiful._

Beca never thought a scream could be the most wonderful sound she's ever heard.

Chloe slumps down in exhaustion, tears of joy in her eyes. Beca hugs her fiercely as the group holds their breaths. "Beca…?

Taking the pair of scissors Lily retrieved, Beca severs the umbilical cord, severing what bonded mother and child together physically, but building a new bond that stretched further. Megan wraps the newborn in a white towel and cleans it up as best as she can. After checking its vitals, finding the child relatively healthy despite its premature birth, she hands it to its mothers.

Chloe, gaining sudden strength, lifts her head and looks at the tiny being placed on her chest. Her…_their_ child is the most beautiful being to exist in this dying world.

_She's_ beautiful.

Her pale, pink tinted skin is soft as a feather. Dark, curly red locks rest atop her tiny head. Her cute button nose and swollen pink lips scrunch up as she tries to locate her mother's breast. Chloe's crying again, but it's out of pure fucking joy.

"Becs, she's perfect. Look what we made. She's so perfect. She's so _perfect_." Chloe cries out. Beca nods, running her slender fingers down her cheek. The child suddenly grabs her finger in her tiny fist, pulling it close to her chest, where her tiny heart beats the loudest in the quiet room.

Jesse's crying again, clutching onto Luke who's desperately trying to push him off. Bumper's still unconscious, Fat Amy waving a fan in front of his flushed face. She wasn't experienced in child birth and backed away to give Megan room. Beca looks up from her daughter to give them a watery smile and gives a thumbs up.

They cry and hug each other in relief.

When Chloe gives their daughter to Beca, Beca knew she held the most precious thing in the world. Fuck diamonds, rubies, pearls, and the key to the city. She's got her precious baby girl.

"I'll protect you always…" She whispers, not just to the baby. Not just to Chloe. She's talking to _all_ of them. She kisses her daughter on her forehead, smiling when she feels her nuzzle against her neck like a newborn kitten.

"What're you going to name her…?"

Chloe leans against Beca's shoulder.

"_Scarlett_..."

Like the sunrise, the sunset, and the red of the American flag that fell from grace. Like the human blood running through their veins… The color of the new sky, expensive rubies, and the color of passion._ So_ beautiful and so unique.

The color of _hope._

* * *

A few miles away, a Wolverine lifts his deformed head to the sky. His nostrils flare at the heavy sent of blood. His ears prick like wolves' at the sound of anguished screams. He shrieks loudly, drawing the attention of a rather large horde.

A Banshee follows suite, her scream much louder and more deafening. A group of about thirty common infected hobbled toward the Wolverine as he sniffed the air repeatedly, foam pouring out of his mouth and his claws leaving deep scratches in black pavement.

He finally pin points the direction the scent of blood is wafting from, he charges forward like a lion on a hunt. The common infected and the Banshee follow. The common infected don't get very far because the sun kills them before they get very far.

Suddenly, three more Wolverines appear from a rundown apartment, sniffing and banging on their chests like dead monkeys.

With one bloodcurdling howl they take off towards the source of potential food.

Towards a group of humans who've just smiled for the first time in months.

* * *

_**Sorry if Chloe's birth just seemed so sudden, but that's the effect I needed to have. I don't know much about childbirth, but I did my best. Please tell me your thoughts. People say white is the color of hope, or blue, but I think it's red. Not bright red, not dark red, but Scarlett.**_


	4. Devil May Cry

"Bree?"

Upon hearing the gentle, pained whisper, Aubrey rushes from the bathroom in a flurry of damp, blonde hair and gangly limbs. She falls to her knees beside her beloved's head, and runs her fingers through her dark brunette locks.

For a moment, she thinks her mind has been playing tricks on her, and Stacie really hadn't whispered her name. But as dark hazel eyes slowly flutter open, and full pink lips spread into a soft, adoring smile, Aubrey feels hot tears spill down her cheeks.

"Stacie," She whispers just as softly, and presses their foreheads together. Gentle fingers wipe away her tears for a fraction of a second before the arm loses its precious strength and falls back to her side.

"Heard… screaming."

Aubrey smiles and reaches for the rag on the floor near the injured brunette's head. She dabs at the sweat that has gathered on Stacie's temple. "Chloe had the baby."

Stacie's dark eyes flicker in surprise, dark brows pulling together in a knot of confusion. Had she really been out of it for so long? Chloe had only been eight-months last time she checked.

"The baby was born a few weeks too early, but Megan is confident that there is nothing wrong with her." Aubrey explains.

"A… girl?"

Aubrey nods. "They named her Scarlett. She looks just like Chloe, but with Beca's nose and eyes. Although, Megan says the eye-color may change as she gets older. It's still something."

Stacie laughs softly, ignoring the white-hot flashes of pain the action brought her cracked and bruised ribs. "Bumper… owes me fifty bucks."

"You guys betted on the eye-color?" Aubrey asks, amused.

"No… gender." Stacie clarifies as her eyes begin to droop. Even such a small conversation proves to be a hassle for the recovering woman. "Bree…"

Aubrey leans closer and closes her eyes to hide the disappointment swirling in her slate-blue depths. Her blonde hair spills over her shoulders, shielding Stacie's perfect features from the trickle of sunlight spilling through the partially opened curtains.

"Yes, my love?"

Stacie weakly moves her head so that it rests on Aubrey's lap, and buries her face into the woman's abdomen, comforted by her familiar scent and the softness of her skin. "Sing… to me, please…"

Aubrey hesitates. She hasn't sung in months. Singing was something she did when she was at the very peak of happiness. Could one really do such a thing in the midst of an apocalypse, where the only thing even remotely equivalent to happiness is the feeling of relief accomplishment of surviving another day in this dying world?

But, when she looks down upon the woman cradled in her arms, hears the cries of the tiny, newborn child in the room below, and sees the bright, hopeful expressions on her parents' faces, the laughter rippling through the group of survivors as they joke and play and smile even under the terror of this new world, she knows that she can heed her beloved's request.

_"It won't be in vain, to swallow all your pain. And learn to love what burns, and gather the courage to return. Faces in the crowd. Faces in the crowd will smile again, and the devil may cry, the devil may cry at the end of the night."_

She twirls a strand of dark hair around her pale fingers as she closes her eyes, and tilts her head back with tears rolling down her cheeks as the power of music courses through her.

_"The light will shine through the rain. And heaven, will hear them call your name. And home will feel like home again. Corruption will fill your brain."_

Stacie's dark eyes flutter shut as her fingers fist in Aubrey's red hoodie, the normal pattern of her breathing interrupted by the forceful tremors of coughs at the hands of a possibly punctured lung. Aubrey pauses momentarily to brush her lips across Stacie's forehead before losing herself in the blues once more.

_"They will parade upon your victory. They will parade upon your victory. You'll put a smile on their faces. The world will be yours for the taking. The story you birth will be ageless. Just learn to love and be patient."_

"You know I love you more than anything?" Aubrey asks, even though she knows the woman has long-since crossed the border of consciousness. "I never thought that I would fall in love with a woman. But it's crazy how the world works. I don't know if I could go on if something were to happen to you."

_"Faces in the crowd. Faces in the crowd will smile again again. And the devil may cry, the devil may cry at the end of the night."_

"I'll be here when you wake," Aubrey promises, "I will always be here when you wake."

_**"Wolverines are blind, but have an excellent sense of smell. They can detect even the tiniest trickle of blood from over a mile away."**_

"Damn," Bumper groans as he watches the new parents with their tiny baby. "I owe Stacie fifty bucks."

Jesse raises a dark brow. "You guys made a bet? On what?"

"Gender."

Luke sighs heavily, scratching his new tangle of blonde curls. "You do know that she tricked you, right?"

"How? Unless she secretly knew the baby would be a girl even before they knew it was a girl, seems highly unlikely." The heavy-set boy argued, slapping his hand against his chest in a 'duh' motion.

"Well, let's see." Luke pretends to think, tapping his finger against his chin and crossing his legs in a posh manner. "Chloe's a girl, right?"

"What on earth gave you that idea?" Bumper dead-pans.

"Beca's a girl too. With a little something extra, but a girl no less. In order to birth a son, the 'father' would have to provide the genetic instructions for said son, but since Beca lacks the correct genetic code for fully male offspring, it would be impossible for her to have a son, despite her extra chromosome. The closest to thing to a son she would actually have is a daughter with the same anatomy as her." Luke explains.

"Burn." Jesse snickers.

Bumpers mouth opens and closes rapidly as realization finally sinks in. He face-palms harshly, leaving a rather red indention of his hand on his forehead. "She tricked me!"

"Wow, Luke," Jesse breaths, impressed. "Did you figure all of that on your own?

Luke shrugs. "Common sense as well as basic genetic knowledge. He should've paid attention in Genetics instead of drawing nipples on all of the class dummies when no one was looking."

"She's so tiny." Beca peers over Chloe's shoulder, watching as their daughter drank greedily from her mother's bosom. Chloe's eyes, though dark with exhaustion, are sparkling with happiness.

"You're one to talk." Chloe gently teases.

Beca laughs softly, flicking a piece of dark red hair away from the baby's face. Her tiny hands capture her finger, holding it hostage while she feeds. Beca, not usually one to show emotions, wears her heart on her sleeve in the presence of her newborn baby girl.

It shows through her watery grey eyes, the soft smile on her small pink lips. The fearless, stoic, leader of this group of misfit survivors, reduced to a pile of mush in the presence of a tiny, helpless child.

"I still think we should have named her Sia." It's Beca's turn to tease now as she recalls that faithful day in the girls' shower.

Chloe's laugh is airy and breathless. "Then her middle name would have been David Guetta. Or _bulletproof._"

"I think her middle name should be Amy." Fat Amy suggests in her thick, Tasmanian accent.

"Why Amy? I think Jesse is more appropriate." Jesse says, flashing his best-friend a hopeful smile. Beca rolls her eyes.

"Her middle name is Not Jesse. Scarlett Not Jesse Mitchell."

"Hold on, why is it Mitchell instead of Beal?" Chloe raises an immaculate red brow.

"Scarlett Not Jesse Mitchell-_Beal._" Beca tries, ignoring Jesse's pout.

"Someone help me take this pool outside." Jesse says, gesturing disgustedly at the blood-stained birthing enclosure of water.

"I just remembered that I had to go sharpen my knives." Luke says quickly.

"I have to go find fifty bucks."

"Yeah, no." Fat Amy walks out of the room in search of the other girls, and Jesse groans in dismay. He carefully and singlehandedly drags the pull out of the house, making sure to scan the area for any infected. There's a few lingering Common Infected safely hidden under the canopy of a rundown store a few hundred feet away.

He doesn't concern himself with their presence. If they chose to leave the safety of the canopy, the would face a spontaneous combustion at the hands of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. He drags the grotesque pull a few houses down and empties it near a sewer.

He squeals in fright when the afterbirth rolls out of the pool and comes dangerously close to his bare feet. He kicks it away, hoping that doing such a thing isn't a secret sin or a subjection to bad luck. A brave, foolish common infected ventures into the street, entranced by the scent of the bloody lump of flesh.

He doesn't get very close before he throws his head back and lets out a piercing roar of agony. Red, pulsating blisters form on his decomposed skin, and his eyes explode within their sockets with a sickening plop.

Jesse watches intently from the sidewalk, protected and unharmed by the sun's power. It's only a matter of seconds before the corpse's brain explodes within his skull. Blood, pieces of his skull, and brain matter flies everywhere, and Jesse scurries back to the safety of the safehouse, his task complete.

_**"Careful, If you're standing too close to a Banshee when she shrieks, you may lose your hearing."**_

CR, Lily, Jessica, and Riley watch the world around them from their perch on the roof, bored to death and growing hungrier by the second. The dog lazily flicks her ears back and forth, trying to keep them away from the clutches of a rather persistent fruit fly.

Lily is sharpening a menacing looking knife on a piece of cobblestone she found near a rundown grocery store. The knife is blood red, and has a sickening, curved blade made to hook and slice through its victim's flesh.

Jessica doesn't have any shame, and is using the opportunity to sun-bathe on the roof, clad in only a skimpy bathing suit, much to CR's pleasure.

"Man, If I'd have known Aubrey was into pussy, I'd have made her mines along time ago." She comments, trying to provoke conversation to alleviate the awful boredom she's facing.

"She wasn't." Jessica says, amused. "But Stacie convinced her to try it. You know Stacie, always one to look for sex. Didn't matter who it was from. Sex was sex, and she certainly didn't discriminate."

CR sighs. "Figured that out when she let me dance on her when we did that S&amp;M showdown with the Treblemakers."

"They're a cute couple, though. Almost as cute as Beca and Chloe."

"Beca and Chloe are fire as fuck, everybody knows that. But the Staubrie ship is so unexpected and mysterious. OTP." CR argues, picking up a pair of binoculars and scanning the area for any suspicious activity.

"OTP?" Jessica laughs, "What is this? _Fanfiction?"_

"I'm just saying. It's spicy and makes you wanna… What the hell?" CR breaks off as she catches movement far in the distance.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asks, and even Riley stands at attention, her large ears moving back and forth like a pair of fleshy satellites.

CR throws down the pair of binoculars, unable to really make anything of the figures in the distance, and she searches for something stronger. She spies the telescope on the edge of the roof, left by the family who had occupied the home long before them.

She quickly moves it into position and peers through it. When she gets a clear view of the commotion in the distance, she gasps, falling back on her butt, her expression filled with terror.

"C?" Jessica rushes to her friend's side and places a soothing hand on her shoulder. "What's the matter?"

CR takes a few deep breaths, praying to a god she didn't even believe in that what she saw was only her mind playing tricks on her. It's the boredom. It has to be. But as Jessica peeks through the lense, and her reaction is the same as CR's, she knows that it was real.

"They're coming."

_**"Titans are vile, skinless monsters who can grow up to over twelve feet tall. Some even retain very human-like characteristics, such a laughing, crying, and even smiling."**_

Jessica dives back into the window and rushes down the stairs, her eyes wide with panic and terror. CR and Lily are hot on her heels. Riley stays on the roof, ears pricked, body stiff, and her chest rumbling with dangerous growls.

"Shit, Beca!" Jessica bursts into the living room, startling the woman in question and the few individuals scattered throughout the complex. Beca looks up, a frown marring her beautiful features.

"What's wrong?"

"T-there's a fucking mob of th-those things! Heading straight this way!" CR shrieks, pointing in the general direction the horde is gathered in.

Beca's face turns white and she quickly disentangles herself from her girlfriend as she makes a beeline for the roof. With trembling hands, she takes the telescope and peers through the dirty lense. Her blood runs cold, and she shakes her head back and forth, fearful and confused.

"It's broad daylight!" She growls, slamming her fist into the nearby wall of the chimney. "How the hell could they have…" she pauses, racking her brain for some sort of explanation, any explanation!

"They're attracted by noise… and the scent of blood…" Beca says aloud, rubbing her temples furiously. "Noise… Chloe!... her screams…. Blood, the blood from the pool. Fuck, Jessie emptied the pool too close to the house! We practically rang the dinner bells! Fuck!"

Beca turns and bolts back into the house, banging on closed doors down the hallway, rousing the safe-house's resting occupants, yelling instructions and obscenities. She opens the door to Aubrey and Stacie's room.

"Beca?" Aubrey's voice is low and husky. She had been asleep.

Beca quickly crosses the room and begins to pack necessary belongings, much to Aubrey's confusion. She slowly rises from the bed, careful not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend. "What's going on?"

"We have to go. We have to go _now_." Beca says, reaching under the bed and retrieving a SPAS-12 shotgun and a spare M1911. She hands the shotgun to Aubrey, who backs away, her eyes radiating defiance.

"Why? Stacie can barely move…" Aubrey argues. "It's still too soon."

Beca pinches the bridge of her nose, fighting to stay calm. She takes a few deep, calming breaths and fixes her friend with a smoldering glare. "Aubrey, I know Stacie's still too weak to travel, but…" She pauses, and points out of the window, "There's a fucking horde heading straight for us, and if we don't move, we're all going to_ die."_

She loads the gun and hands it to the distraught, conflicted blonde, who takes it wordlessly with a pained look plastered on her serene features.

"And I refuse to let that happen." Beca says, her eyes darkening with determination. She cocks the shotgun and opens the blinds, her dark orbs fixed on the shadows in the distance.

_**"Spitters can spew acid that can melt steel from their solar-plexus. Their elongated necks and excellent vision allows them to incapacitate opponents and prey with deadly accuracy."**_

_To be continued..._

_Long time no see, eh? All my fault, but this story has made an epic comeback. Boldly printed informal phrases serve as line-breaks. R&amp;R. _


	5. Chapter 5

_God Bless America  
VI: Exodus_

"_Terrorism is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden _

_death." _

_Adolf Hitler_

Benji's dead.

They found him only moments ago, hanging from the ceiling of an old walk-in closet like the old hang-man drawings littered on the walls, his body gently swaying in the Southern Breeze. It took Beca almost ten minutes to coax a distraught Bumper and a devastated Jesse away from the scene.

"Jesse," she'd whispered in the sobbing man's ear, "we have to go."

He'd fallen to his knees, almost crushing Benji's discarded black frames from where they'd slipped of his nose and lay cracked and broken on the cold wooden floor. Beca practically dragged him out by the collar of his shirt. "We'll send out our prayers later, but right now we have to go. I'm sorry, Jesse."

"H-he didn't deserve to go out like this." Jesse had said, looking up at her with those giant chocolate brown eyes of his that were swimming with tears.

"I know," Beca sympathized, but her own steel grey orbs flashed with urgency. "Nobody deserves this."

She'd struck him after that, a quick yet admirable jab to the chin had put him to sleep almost instantly. Stacie had taught her that. Said it came in handy when someone got a little too close for comfort. Bumper picked him up and carried his unconscious friend to the bus.

Beca looked up at their fallen friend with a sad smile. She reached out and stroked his ankle. "Rest easy, bro." she then picked up his broken glasses and shoved them in her hoodie pocket. He wouldn't need them any longer.

She exited the closet and closed the door behind her. There wasn't any need to destroy his brain. The monsters on the outside weren't zombies. They couldn't rise from the dead. They were just poor infected souls driven mad by radiation exposure.

But she barricaded the door anyway. She didn't want the infected to have access to his body. They'd tear it to pieces. Hopefully, they would ignore the closet completely and Beca and the others would be to return and give him a proper burial.

She closed the bedroom door too and sprinted across the hallway to the room on the other side. Not bothering to knock, she barged in. Aubrey, startled, pointed a pistol at her, but quickly dropped it when she saw it was just Beca.

The new world made her paranoid.

"What the hell, Beca?" Aubrey snarled, gently lifting Stacie's head out of her lap and setting it on the pillows beside her. She heaved herself out of bed and stalked towards the shorter woman. "What's going on? Everyone's running around like they've lost their minds!"

Beca shoved past her and began snooping around the room in search of supplies they absolutely couldn't be without. "We need to leave."

"Leave?" Aubrey echoed, flabbergasted. Her eyes darted to her sleeping girlfriend's form. "We can't leave. She's still too weak to travel."

"We don't really have much of a choice." Beca replied as calmly as possible, though on the inside she was a raging volcano of emotions. "Jesse emptied the birthing pool to close to the safehouse. There's a horde of infected headed straight for us."

"That moron!" Aubrey seethed. Her lovely face had gone white.

"It's not his fault."

"Like hell it isn't!" Aubrey had never warmed up to Jesse. He was a bit too ingenuine for her liking and she absolutely hated fools. He tended to not take things seriously, a sheer contrast to her serious, stoic nature. He'd messed up big time.

How could he be so stupid?!

Tears of frustration welled in Aubrey's eyes. She'd only just gotten Stacie to sleep and now she would be forced to wake her so soon? After the pain had only just eased enough to actually let her sleep?

"Look, we don't have time to play the blame game, Bree." Beca retorted. "If we don't move within the next twenty minutes there won't be anyone around to blame because we'll all be dead. Now shut up and help me get her down the stairs."

Aubrey swallowed back a scathing reply and nodded. She tucked her pistol into the hand-made holster attached to her thigh and met Beca at the bed. She leaned over her girlfriend's sleeping form and tucked a dark brown strand of hair behind her ear.

"Baby," her voice held none of the rage it had earlier. Beca was almost offended. "Baby, wake up. We have to go."

Stacie's red-rimmed dark hazel eyes fluttered open, shiny and unfocused with delirium from her fever. Aubrey stroked her cheek lovingly. "Bree…?" she breathed, having a hard time distinguishing reality from mere hallucination.

"Hey, gorgeous." Aubrey said. "You have to get up, okay? We have to go."

Her eyes narrowed in question. Explaining would require a bit of time. Time they didn't have. Every second - every moment - counted with or against them.

"I'll explain once we're safe." Aubrey promised. She looked at Beca, who nodded a single time before slipping Stacie's battered arm over her petite shoulder. Stacie gasped at the burning sensation in her muscles the movement caused her.

Together, the two women managed to get the brunette out of bed. Now was the hard part; getting her downstairs on a broken leg and little to no energy. They were basically carrying dead weight, even with their newfound muscles from all the manual labor they did.

"Ngh!" Stacie yelped as they hobbled down the first stair. Her leg had hit the staircase. Aubrey sent a dark glare in Beca's direction, who mumbled a swift apology. "Beca…"

The former DJ looked up at the injured brunette, who gulped and hung her head. "Leave me."

"What?" Beca inquired, louder than intended. They were almost there. Just a bit further and they'd be homefree.

Aubrey, who hadn't heard the exchange because she was so focused on the task at hand spared her a curious glance. When Stacie didn't repeat her request, Beca knew it was for her ears and her ears alone. "Leave me." she said again after making sure her girlfriend's attention was elsewhere.

"You're insane."

Stacie sighed. "No. I'm serious. I'll only hold you guys back."

Beca shook her head.

Stacie's face twisted in pain, but for once it was not physical. "I don't understand."

"_If this is to end in fire, then we shall all burn together. Watch the flames climb high into the night." _Beca whispered. "_And if we die tonight, then we should all die together. Raise a glass of wine for the last time."_

Stacie was speechless. She knew that song like the back of her hand. _I See Fire_ by Ed Sheeran from _the Lord of the Rings, _the movie she'd dragged her friends to see because she was a closeted larper and owned every single book. She didn't think Beca had actually paid attention to it.

Aubrey had been on her phone. Chloe had fallen asleep. Fat Amy left for the concession stand and never returned. When she'd asked how Beca liked the movie, the tiny woman had just shrugged, smirked, and slurped her icy.

She bit her lip and gave Beca a watery smile. The three women continued their slow journey down the stairs. When they reached the final stair, a red-eyed Bumper approached them. "I'll take her." he offered, already holding out his arms.

Beca nodded gratefully and deposited the injured brunette in the boy's arms before bolting back up the staircase to retrieve her things. Chloe and the baby had already been loaded on the bus parked out front. She could see her girlfriend's fiery red hair from the second story window.

She grabbed her favorite 44. Magnum pistol from under her pillow, a worn and battered but still extremely powerful Bullpup Shotgun from underneath the bed, and a pink UZI that might've belonged to a female gang-banger once upon a time.

After making sure she had everything, she closed all of the doors and made her way outside to the bus. The paint was chipped and bloodstained. Dents littered the front of it from when Fat Amy had bulldozed her way through hordes of infected. The windshield was cracked and it moaned like an injured whale at times, but it still served well.

Everyone was already on it and set to go. Beca hurriedly tossed her bags in the side compartment and climbed on. "Let's get the hell out of here." she said to Fat Amy.

"Right."

Beca's head snapped to the left when she heard a distinctive roar coming from the direction of the house. She climbed over Jessica's lap and peered out of the window. An anxious growl erupted from her lips when she spotted the white, willowy locks of a Banshee lumbering up from the street outside the house.

_How the hell could they have possibly got here so fucking fast?! _

Then it occurred to Beca that the Banshee was wearing the remains of a Walmart uniform. There was a Walmart not too far from their location, about ten minutes away by foot, five by car.

_She's can't be from the other horde. Shit, she must've been roaming around here the entire time. Right under our fucking noses. _

"Uhm, Amy, we need to leave." Beca hissed. "Like now."

The bus coughed and spluttered under Fat Amy's control. "Shit, I'm tryin' Becs!"

Another roar sliced through the air as the figure of what used to be a beautiful husky darted seemingly from nowhere. His ears were missing; all of his beautiful white fur was gone, and a foul green substance spewed from his blackened maw. He surged forward; completely unmindful of the sun in his starved state.

His skin began bubbling and blistering immediately, but his pace didn't suffer. Riley gave what could've been a sad bark at seeing one of her kind reduced to this violent monster. "Can you try harder?!"

The dog rammed his head into the side of the bus like a rhino. Chloe screamed and curled herself over the baby's tiny body. Beca shattered the window with the butt of her gun and emptied an entire clip into the Hell-Hound's face. The creature gave a series of pained howls before collapsing onto his side, then he howled no longer.

Beca could just make out a tattered collar around his neck. He used to be someone's beloved companion. She sighed sadly; Hell-Hounds were the worst. Killing a dog, infected or not, was just as hard as killing a person.

Finally, the bus came to life and Fat Amy floored it instantly. Beca's shoulder hit the side of the bus harshly at the sudden movement, but she felt no pain other than the shock of losing Benji.

"Oh my god!" Jessica shrieked, pointing a horribly worn down nail towards the house.

_A Titan. How did we miss that? Either they've gotten smarter or we've gotten careless. _

The Titan was male. He might've been handsome when he was human. His shiny dark skin glistened brightly under the red sun's eerie glow. He had a huge black afro that was stained with blood and the gutted remains of his last meal were still tangled in his beard. He lumbered forward on huge, powerful dark legs.

CR suddenly gasped. Beca turned to look at the woman with the red faux-hawk. "I-I know him." she whispered, her fists clenching. She knew those hazel eyes anywhere. Even though they were sitting in pools of red lava, she still recognized him. "He's apart of the African-American Ethnics Group I used to go to. He's… he went to Morehouse."

Beca squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. All three of the HBCU's were in the vicinity. Clark, Spelman, and Morehouse were only forty minutes away from Barden. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." CR muttered, turning away just as the man opened his gaping maw to exhale a burst of steam. Then he roared. He roared like a lion and pounded on his ripped chest like an ape. Beca flinched when his lips spread into one of those bloodcurdling smiles Titans were famous for.

_I hate it when they smile. _

She sighed tiredly and threw the pistol in CR's lap before making her way to the back of the bus where her girlfriend and new daughter were. Chloe gave her a tight smile and made room for her.

Beca looked down at her kid and sighed again.

_It's not fair. Just a few months ago we were planning to take you all over the world because I was going to be the best goddamn DJ in the world and Chloe was going to sign with Def Jam. Now we're fighting for our lives everyday. You don't have shit to do with this, and yet you're stuck in the mess humanity made just because one country wanted to dictate the world. _

The pressure was starting to get to her a bit. Scarlett had no way of defending herself. Not for years to come. She'd be completely reliant on her mothers and their friends to protect her.

_Benji's dead. He cracked under the pressure. Now the question is: Who's next? Basically, the only point in living it to die another day. It'd be easy to just end it all, you know? But I'm not that selfish. It's not just my life at stake. It's like holding the remaining pieces of humanity in the palm of my hand. _

Beca rubbed her temples and strokes her kid's cheek soothingly as Chloe rested her cheek on her shoulder.

_Rest in Peace, Ben. I'd tell you to rest in Paradise, but who's stupid enough to believe in that after what's happened? _

A billowing in the distance caught her eye. She almost spat in disgust when she saw what it was. Instead, she closed her eyes and clutched her girlfriend's hand, idly listening to the groans of the bus as it rolled through miles and miles of devastation. The mighty flag hoisted on the side of an abandoned business remained unfairly untouched. Sometimes Beca wanted to tear it down and let it be lost in the wind. But it was one of the last memoirs of the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.

_More like Land of the Stolen and Home of Cowards. Sometimes I wonder what argument could've been so intense that it led to the end of the world? Must've been one hell of a dispute. _

Before drifting off into a troubled sleep, Beca uttered a prayer she's grown accustomed to saying every moment when she woke up and every moment before she went to bed.

_God Bless America_

_6_

_Live to die another day._


End file.
